LSE Executive Education’s Post

It’s disappointing to see that the UK economy didn’t grow at all over the summer, especially with a new government in place. The expectation of voters was that fresh leadership might bring a shift but, instead, we’re seeing a total lack of momentum. Whilst people voted for change and a chance for greater prosperity, many of the new government policies seem to be having the opposite effect when it comes to businesses. Businesses are now grappling with higher employment costs, more red tape, and a general sense of uncertainty. It’s making it harder for businesses to grow, invest, or even plan for the future. Unfortunately it is already clear that the current approach of the new government isn’t working. What we actually need are policies that inspire confidence, lower costs, and create a more predictable environment for businesses to thrive in. If we don’t make some serious changes, the UK could continue to struggle, and that’s not something anyone wants to see. #UKEconomy #BusinessStruggles #GrowthChallenges #PolicyChange #EconomicUncertainty

Economic & Safety Concerns on the Rise in the Night-Time Economy - 63% of businesses now cite tax as a major challenge, up from 48% in late 2024. With rising economic pressures and safety concerns, the night-time economy is under increasing strain. As we approach the Spring Budget, it's clear that the current Chancellor’s plan is not working. We need a budget that reduces the tax burden, supports businesses, and prioritises the safety of our communities. Meanwhile, polling figures reveal a decline in Labour’s popularity, with Elon Musk gaining further influence in UK politics. His growing role could signal a shift in the political landscape, as Reform UK continues to gain traction, leaving the Conservatives and Labour in a race for votes. The night-time economy remains vital to the UK’s culture and employment, and now more than ever, we need bold action to safeguard it. What would you like to see in the Spring Budget? Share your thoughts below 👇 #NightTimeEconomy #SpringBudget2025 #EconomicRelief #SafetyMatters #SupportLocalBusinesses #PoliticalShift

Learning from the US (to scale) for UK Local Growth Plans, means proper interventions from Whitehall aligned with local desire to drive change... From Bruce Katz .. "mega economic shifts are catalyzed by unprecedented federal policies and investments which set the frame for restructuring the national economy but require cities and metropolitan areas to deliver what comes next. Federal funding measures include the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, the $1.2 trillion Investments in Infrastructure and Jobs Act, the $280 billion CHIPS and Science Act, the $411 billion Inflation Reduction Act and the $850 billion+ annual Department of Defense Appropriations." The shift to homeworking can be seen as an opportunity for a remake, over time, of our core cities. The market needs stimulation however as an aid to the reinvention of our urban cores and not a sticking plaster for infrastructure and skills investment that should've happened anyway. Will UK Growth Plans have the scale and ambition to deliver - especially given the constraints of national debt? Will decision makers be brave enough to accept the homeworking revolution and not try and push workers and city centre spaces back to a pre-COVID bygone age? As Katz and the team point out, geo-political change and more productive onshoring linked with decarbonisation and available space in urban centres offers a new "raison d'etre" for City economies and skills. #jacobseconomics smart economics smarter decisions John Siraut Dr Sam Luke Jessica Knight Glenn Lyons Amy Beasley Lee Tillman Liam Ronan-Chlond Glyn Owen Jacobs James Pruden John Shutt Benedict Durrant Michael Minall Richard Sanderson https://lnkd.in/eiaMY2nP

Economic & Safety Concerns on the Rise in the Night-Time Economy - 63% of businesses now cite tax as a major challenge, up from 48% in late 2024. With rising economic pressures and safety concerns, the night-time economy is under increasing strain. As we approach the Spring Budget, it's clear that the current Chancellor’s plan is not working. We need a budget that reduces the tax burden, supports businesses, and prioritises the safety of our communities. Meanwhile, polling figures reveal a decline in Labour’s popularity, with Elon Musk gaining further influence in UK politics. His growing role could signal a shift in the political landscape, as Reform UK continues to gain traction, leaving the Conservatives and Labour in a race for votes. The night-time economy remains vital to the UK’s culture and employment, and now more than ever, we need bold action to safeguard it. What would you like to see in the Spring Budget? Share your thoughts below 👇 #NightTimeEconomy #SpringBudget2025 #EconomicRelief #SafetyMatters #SupportLocalBusinesses #PoliticalShift

Political leaders are now chorusing the need for stronger economic growth as only the taxes resulting from it can curb spiralling public sector deficits and national debt to GDP ratios. The temptation is the Keynsian remedy of public sector ‘investment’ to stimulate wider economic growth already being applied widely in the EU and the US. In the US, it has certainly worked by maintaining a conspicuously impressive rate of growth but there is no sign of improvement in the federal fiscal position, which continues to deteriorate. Europe and the UK cannot afford the same largesse, their public services/welfare/pension/healthcare systems consume ever greater proportions of GDP and have a propensity to consume most public sector ‘investment’ without adding to productivity. As demonstrated by France (public sector expenditure now amounts to 58% of GDP) where bond markets are becoming rattled, major European economies need to stimulate expansion, without incurring burgeoning public sector deficits. #economicgrowth

Economic & Safety Concerns on the Rise in the Night-Time Economy - 63% of businesses now cite tax as a major challenge, up from 48% in late 2024. With rising economic pressures and safety concerns, the night-time economy is under increasing strain. As we approach the Spring Budget, it's clear that the current Chancellor’s plan is not working. We need a budget that reduces the tax burden, supports businesses, and prioritises the safety of our communities. Meanwhile, polling figures reveal a decline in Labour’s popularity, with Elon Musk gaining further influence in UK politics. His growing role could signal a shift in the political landscape, as Reform UK continues to gain traction, leaving the Conservatives and Labour in a race for votes. The night-time economy remains vital to the UK’s culture and employment, and now more than ever, we need bold action to safeguard it. What would you like to see in the Spring Budget? Share your thoughts below 👇 #NightTimeEconomy #SpringBudget2025 #EconomicRelief #SafetyMatters #SupportLocalBusinesses #PoliticalShift

Between the relentless attack launched by the right wing press and its own bafflingly poor communications, the Starmer government in the UK seems to have won few admirers, even amongst its own supporters. But it's actually embarked on a much more radical approach to economic policy than most people seem to have noticed (and more radical than it has itself let on.) I have tried to analyse this in an article in the Guardian. https://lnkd.in/eBYvShc4 Labour is trying to address some of the longstanding weaknesses in the British economic model, notably rates of investment and productivity consistently lower than most of its major competitors. Beyond fiscal policy, its strategy has four main pillars: accelerating infrastructure investment; using public money to leverage private capital into priority industrial sectors and regions; raising service sector productivity; through a higher minimum wage, new worker rights and higher employers' national insurance; and trying to bring more people into the labour force with higher skills. The interesting thing about this is that the government is seeking to use significantly more interventionist methods than adopted by the Blair-Brown government from 1997-2010. These include public ownership (GB Energy, railway renationalisation, allowing councils to run bus services and build homes), a public investment bank (the National Wealth Fund), and economic powers devolved to combined authority regional mayors. This difference in approach is not surprising, since the economic challenges facing the UK today are much deeper than in 1997. But given the general view - the one they seek themselves to promulgate - that Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves have taken Labour back to the political centre ground, this is quite striking. There is no guarantee that the government's economic policies will succeed. The problems are profound, both ministers and civil servants are inexperienced in these forms of intervention, and the business and finance sectors may not play ball. And politically Labour's strategy needs to succeed not just in the long term but - in some visible form - by the time of the next election. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister and Chancellor may find their policies Trumped altogether.

Suella Braverman says now is the time to unite the right. She thinks Reform and The Tory party need to come together to topple The Labour Party and rescue the UK economy. Do you concur? To be candid, with how things are going at the moment, I think they’ll be toppling themselves. However, is this the answer? What would the party look like? What would their policies look like? Is this the political revolution we need, or just more of the same? Would you unite the right? Or could The Labour Party perhaps come clean on their many economic errors and reverse course? What is the best solution to create a thriving UK economy? Would love your thoughts. #unitetheright #labour #reform #toryparty #ukpolitics #ukbusiness #ftse100 TPP Edward Davies

FRASER INST PROVIDES SOLUTIONS- I find much of the criticisms especially of the Federal government to be void of solutions. This article is not. Here are the keys messages: - provinces should reduce/eliminate inter-provincial trade barriers - reduce barriers to foreign investment in Canada especially in telecoms, airlines, thereby increasing competition - reduce red tape at all levels of government thereby lowering compliance costs, which savings can be used to train staff and invest in more productive equipment - lower corporate taxes to encourage domestic and foreign investment - lower personal taxes to improve living standards. These initiatives would encourage private sector investment thereby reducing the need for government investment. This would lead to lower government deficits and debt and a higher standard of living.